Overlooked an Orchid
by Saitaina R. Moricia
Summary: Hindsight is never kind, and neither is reality...


Title: Overlooked an Orchid  
Author: Saitaina  
Author's Email: saitaina@wizzards.net  
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth, Elizabeth/Norrington  
Rating: G-PG  
Disclaimer: I don't own it, it owns me.  
Summary: Hindsight's never kind, and neither is reality.  
A/N: This was not supposed to happen. I was looking for a song for "My Place". Instead I found this. Not a sequel to "Orchids" more of a companion piece to it. Timeline is given away in the first scene but it's after Jack gets his letter from Will. 

***

**The orchid is a flower that blooms so tender'ly  
To thrill the fairest lady of the land  
If placed beside a blush'in rose  
The rose could not compare  
But how was such as I to understand  
  
**Will watched through teary eyes as the Pearl shoved off, a lone figure near the wheel turned towards him, raising a bottle in salute. He watched for the long hours as the Pearl slowly drifted further and further away, further from Port Royal, further from him. And he was the one that sent them away. And asked that they not return.  
  
He lowered his head as Elizabeth slid her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder, her gaze looking out to where his had been, watching the Pearl and her Captain leave their lives for good. "That's it then, time to move on with our lives," she said softly, shifting her gaze to him, watching her husband carefully.  
  
"That's it." Will whispered softly, wiping at his tears with the back of his hand. He turned and kissed Elizabeth's cheek, giving her a weak, watery smile before turning away to his study.  
  
**I over looked an orchid while searching for a rose  
The orchid that I over looked was you  
The rose that I was searching for, has proved to be un true  
The orchid now I find my dear was you  
**  
It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, to break off ties with his hidden lover, to be with his wife and their soon to be born child. It had seemed like such a good idea.  
  
But ideas are never what they seem and only in hindsight could one truly understand the significance of an action. Will had learned this many times over his life, and he was sure he would learn it many times over.  
  
It was a simple errand, running up to Norrinton's offices to get the measurements for the new ceremonial he wanted. Just a quick trip he could have sent his apprentice on, but for some reason he wanted to go himself. Needed to go himself. Needed the air, the feel of the sea, even if it was just crossing the docks to the older man's offices, but he needed to feel it, inside of him, to quell the longing that kept surfacing.  
  
He had heard her voice before he even reached the steps, the soft, laughing lilt that she had. He knew everything about that voice, had to in the fifteen years they had spent, living their lives together. Fifteen years...gone, forgotten as she curled up in the arms of her lover.  
  
Will had left them there, curled together, not knowing, not seeing as he walked away from them. From her. From his life.  
  
He could understand this. Really he could. And, it didn't hurt as much as he suspected it would, when he lay awake at night, waiting for her to return to their bed. He had suspected, guessed, but now, now he was free from the suspicion, the uncertainty. Now he knew. And now he was free.  
  
**The rose has lost it's color  
But the orchid is the same  
And I'm alone to face these lonely years  
I didn't see the orchid I was looking for a rose  
And now I pay the price with better tears  
**  
Will sighed as he sat in the back of the tavern, rubbing a grimy cloth over an equally grimy tankard. It was a tradition now, to curl up in the back of the Irish Rose, sipping foul tankards of ale and detestable goblets of wine, watching the door eagerly as the hours passed and the patrons got rougher and rowdier. The scene never changed and probably never would, but every time the door opened, he hoped.  
  
There was little call for a trained blacksmith in Tortuga, generally the repair and replacement of sword blades, a few knifes, and even fewer iron shackles. But Will couldn't imagine a better place to put down shop and wait. This was the haven for all that sailed the sea under the black flag. A place to gather and talk shop as you rested and hid out from the fleets. A place to relax, a place to be free.  
  
Will was free here. He wasn't the orphan, the blacksmith's apprentice, the Governor's son-in-law, or Norrinton's best mate. Here he was only Will Turnner, occasionally Bootstrap's Son but that was becoming rarer as he made his own name.  
  
No, the scene never changed in Tortuga, and probably never would for as long as it was alive, and remembered. But that was a good thing. That meant it's inhabitants never changed. And that they would return here when home called to them. That he would return here.  
  
Will drained the last of his drink and stood, watching the once dark sky fill with the light that heralded the coming morning. The tavern was emptying, it's patron's ready to stumble to a bed or alley way, eager to shield out the light of day with a bit of sleep and dreams of silver and gold.  
  
_"Not all treasure is silver and gold mate,"  
  
_Will smiled softly to himself as the memory floated across his hazed mind as he fit the key in the lock of his shop, causing him to pause a moment and reflect. He sighed, shaking his head, pushing open the door. "Aye, Jack, but it's a lot easier to come by." He whispered to himself, tossing his key on the table by the door, kicking the heavy wood closed behind him.  
  
"Is it now?" A voice said from the corner, smile lit up as a match flared, lighting a piper dangling from wind-chapped lips. Jack flicked the match out and took a deep puff, the smoke curling up around him, leaving only his smirk behind.  
  
**I over looked an orchid while searching for a rose  
The orchid that I over looked was you  
The rose that I was searching for,  
has proved to be un true  
The orchid now I find my dear was you**


End file.
